Five decades of commitment to the earth, still going strong

THIS week we travel to the village of Palugaswewa in Eppawela in Anuradhapura District.

- BY SURYA VISHWA

We arrive here to visit one of the oldest indigenous farming promoting hubs in Sri Lanka initiated over five decades ago as part of the Movement for the Protection of Indigenous Seeds (MPIS) begun in the 1970s. When you get off the bus near the Palugaswewa Galkanda Purana Viharaya and walk about 100 metres up to the small Ganapathi homage site by the roadside, you will find a gate leading to a small cluster of simple but artistically designed buildings. These take up about 20 perches within three acres of land.The land had been provided by the Mahaweli Development Authority in the 1970s as part of the scheme to support farmers. This land extent was given to Alex Thantriarachchi, one of the pioneers in promoting organic traditional farming of indigenous paddy varieties and other grains and plant species. Over time, he set up, as part of the MPIS vision, a small library and publishing unit of farming-related books, a butterfly breeding unit, a beekeeping endeavour, a centre for workshops, a small museum of ancient material used for traditional farming, a heirloom rice seed conservation/distribution unit and a plant nursery to grow indigenous plant species.

The Mee plant and the Attika are for reforesting the nearby Kolongas Junction elephant corridor. The cultivation of traditional paddy varieties takes place over two and a half acres. No synthetic fertiliser, pesticide or weedicide is used. This has been the way the cultivation was done for the past fifty years here. One can see that the soil is black and there are weeds here and there.

We list here the full list of the traditional rice varieties grown: Rath Kanda, Kaluheeneti, Pokkali, Rathsuwandel, Sudu Heeneti, Madatha Palu, Beheth Heeneti, Kahawanu, Rathmanikkan, Gonagaru, Kahata El, Kahanala, Kirinarang, Batapola El, Kolikuttu Wee, Rath El, Kahata Samba, Kalu Wee, Kirimurunga, Sudu Wee, Hetapanduru, Rambutann Wee, Yakada Wee, Rath El Samba, Handiran, Rathkunda, Kottiyaran and Mahama Wee.